School Board Choice Barely Okd By Panel

June 08, 1989|By Joel Kaplan.

The appointment of Janis Sharpe to the interim Chicago School Board narrowly avoided rejection by a City Council committee Wednesday as several aldermen questioned the qualifications of the West Side mother of five.

The final 5-4 Chicago City Council Education Committee vote came only after Ald. Ernest Jones (20th) left the hearing, enabling Mayor Richard Daley to stave off the embarrassment of having one of his seven interim school board nominees rejected.

Jones, representing the home ward of Cook County State`s Atty. Cecil Partee, a Daley ally, had originally joined four other aldermen in voting against the appointment, leaving the committee deadlocked.

Sharpe, one of three black appointments to the school board, was opposed by the black and Hispanic members of the committee, who said her inability to answer basic questions about the makeup of the School Board Finance Authority or a proposed voucher system made her unqualified to serve on the interim board.

``I was very surprised she did not have a better grasp of issues and priorities,`` said Ald. Jesus Garcia (22d).

Stronger criticism came from Ald. Anna Langford (16th) who declared,

``there is nothing in her background whatsoever that indicates she is capable of serving on the school board. I have never seen somebody so ill-prepared.``

Although Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3d) said the mayor should withdraw Sharpe`s appointment, Daley defended her selection.

``I would never put her on if I didn`t think she was qualified,`` the mayor said at a press conference where he announced that $186,000 raised at his inaugural dinner would go to three local children`s hospitals.

Sharpe once served as a secretary to former 27th Ward boss and city sewers commissioner Ed Quigley, who was a top lieutenant in the political organization of Daley`s father. She also has worked as an administrative assistant in the Department of Streets and Sanitation under the

administrations of Mayor Richard J. Daley and Mayor Michael Bilandic.

She defended her qualifications, saying she has five children who went through the public school system and operates an after-school day care center. ``I came here to do a job, and I`m going to do it,`` Sharpe said ``They

(the aldermen who opposed her) don`t speak for the whole West Side.``

Committee Chairman Patrick O`Connor (40th), acknowledged that he voted in favor of the appointment because the mayor had expressed his confidence in Sharpe.

``I think if you were to rate the candidates, there are other candidates who were more impressive,`` O`Connor said. ``It is not my appointment to defend.``

He was joined by four other white aldermen in approving Sharpe`s appointment; William Krystyniak (23d), Ald. Terry Gabinski (32d), Roman Pucinski (41st) and Eugene Schulter (47th).

Those voting against Sharpe`s appointment twice were Langford, Tillman, Garcia and Ald. Raymond Figueroa (31st), all of whom worked against Daley in the recent mayoral election.

Under the state law calling for the creation of the seven-member interim school board, the City Council can technically only disapprove of board members. So when the original vote on Sharpe resulted in a 5-5 vote with Jones voting against the nomination, O`Connor ruled that Sharpe`s nomination should be sent to the full council for approval.

Although O`Connor consulted with city Corporation Counsel Kelly Welsh on the phone, and said he was standing by that ruling, Pucinski moved for a second vote.

Jones could not be reached for comment following the meeting as to why he left before that vote was taken.

The committee unanimously approved two other appointments that were up for review Wednesday, Adela Coronado Greeley and William T. Liu.

Greeley is a teacher on leave from Inter-American Magnet School and a founder of Parents United for Responsible Education. Liu was appointed last year by Mayor Eugene Sawyer as the first Asian-American on the board.

Four other interim board appointments were approved earlier, and all of them will go to the full council next week.